Sidetracked

I’ve really been enjoying the Bruce Springsteen DVD I got for Christmas, which has inspired me to re-watch some of the Rolling Stones DVD I got for my wife’s birthday (Yeah, so I got her something I like too — is that so wrong?). 

As a result, I’ve been thinking about the best music movies. Which, of course, leads to a list:

My top ten:

10.) “Shine a Light.” Of course it’s good — Martin Scorcese directed it and it’s about the Stones. How could you go wrong? But, seriously, the direction, the camera angles — it really presented a concert the way no other movie has.

9.) “U2 3D.” Okay, let me amend that last statement. It presented a concert the way no other movie had — until this one came out a few months later. For this movie, 18 cameras were used to capture the Irish rockers in 3D. I especially liked the shots from the stage, where you felt like you were there, looking into your audience of adoring fans.

8.) “The Last Waltz.” Scorcese again, this time chronicling the Band’s farewell concert. Great interviews and great guests, including Dr. John and Van Morrison.

7.) “The Commitments.” I have to admit, it’s been a while since I’ve seen this one, but the one thing I remember is that I really liked it. The plot is about a group of white Dubliners who try to form a soul band. They have real promise, too — until the egos flare up. The band was led by 16-year-old Andre Strong, who has since gone on to tour with the Stones, Elton John and Prince, among others.

6.) “Yellow Submarine.” I love all the Beatles movies, but the psychedelic art in this one takes the prize.

5.) “Woodstock.” Aside from the great music, this was a well-done documentary that explored interesting angles (i.e., the problems setting up a massive outdoor concert, interviewing the guy who cleaned the portable toilets, etc.) and featured cool camera angles of acts like Hendrix and Santana.

4.) “Gimme Shelter.” Alas, all good things must come to an end, right? Whereas “Woodstock” glamorized the 60s, “Gimme Shelter” — like Charles Manson — showed the downside of the drug culture and the beginning of the end of the hippie movement. Oh, and by the way? It’s not a great idea to have a biker gang handle your security. The Hell’s Angels bullied members of Jefferson Airplane and killed an audience member while the Stones were performing. Unable to see exactly what happened, Mick Jagger says into the mic: “Who’s fighting and what for?”

3.) “That Thing You Do.” Tom Hanks isn’t normally known for writing screenplays — or songs. But he did both for this film, about a fictional band called the Wonders. Here we follow the Wonders as they just about make it but then break up to pursue normal lives.

2.) “This is Spinal Tap.” When I interviewed Jon Anderson from YES, he said this is one of his favorite movies. And many other famous musicians agree. Because so many of them say this funny fictional portrait of a heavy metal band nailed it. Cranking it to eleven entered the lexicon with this Rob Reiner flick about the crazy side of rock and roll, which features the band getting lost backstage and losing drummers.

1.) “Almost Famous.” As a teen, Cameron Crowe was better than most adult journalists who’d been at it for years. He also wound up being a pretty good screnplay writer. Here he chronicles his life on the road with 70s rockers. When I interviewed Greg Allman a while ago, he admitted that he and Allman Brothers bandmate Dickey Betts took Crowe’s interview tapes from him as a joke. (The Allman Brothers were Crowe’s first cover — and one of the bands that inspired the movie.)

“The poor guy’s face got so long,” Allman said. “Of course, the next morning . . . we woke him up again and asked him if he wanted to go have breakfast, and we handed him his stuff back.”

Crowe claims Allman mailed the tapes back to him — as a character does in the movie.

Either way — my favorite music movie.

Runners-up:

* “High Fidelity.” Gotta love Jack Black’s music snob – even if he disses Stevie Wonder.

* “Dream Girls.” Launching the career of Jennifer Hudson, with nice work from Eddie Murphy.

* “Ray.” A great impersonation by Jamie Foxx, who has his own musical chops.

* “Cash.” Yeah, the lead actors look nothing like the real people. But it was still a good portrayal.

Posted on January 5th, 2009 by Pat
Filed under: Movies, Music